Biomechanical findings in horses showing asymmetrical vertical excursions of the withers at walk

Byström, Anna; Egenvall, Agneta; Roepstorff, L.; Rhodin, Marie; Bragança, F. M. Serra; Hernlund, Elin; Weeren, René van; Weishaupt, Michael A; Clayton, Hilary M.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0204548

Cited by 22 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…3,30 Asymmetry of the vertical displacement of the withers has been related to maximal protraction and retraction angle of the forelimbs and might not be entirely due to lameness, as it can be related to motor laterality. 31 Therefore, motion symmetry of the withers at the walk should be interpreted with caution in the light of lameness diagnosis.…”

Section: Kinematicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptation strategies of horses with induced forelimb lameness walking on a treadmill

Bragança

Hernlund

Thomsen

et al. 2020

Equine Veterinary Journal

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Section: Kinematicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptation strategies of horses with induced forelimb lameness walking on a treadmill

Bragança

Hernlund

Thomsen

et al. 2020

Equine Veterinary Journal

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“…In Warmblood horses walking on a treadmill, a relatively lower withers minimum during early stance of one forelimb, compared to the other, was associated with left-right differences in stance duration and limb loading both with and without rider. However, while asymmetries in hind limb stance duration and hind limb second vertical force peak were associated with withers asymmetry without rider (Byström et al, 2018), when horses were ridden withers asymmetry was instead associated with asymmetries in forelimb stance duration and forelimb first vertical force peak (Egenvall et al, 2020). In the current study, withers ROM was smaller for both inner and outer steps when ridden on the circle compared to without rider.…”

Section: Unridden Vs Riddenmentioning

confidence: 94%

Kinematic effects of the circle with and without rider in walking horses

Egenvall

Engström

Byström

2020

PeerJ

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Background Biomechanical studies of walk, especially walk on the circle, are scarce, while circles or curved tracks are frequently used during equestrian activities. To study horse–rider–circle interactions on the circle, the first steps would be to investigate how the unridden, freely walking horse is influenced by circular movement, and then add a rider. The aim was to study horse vertical trunk movements, and sagittal cannon angles (protraction–retraction) during walk in straight-line and on the circle without rider, and on the circle with a rider using minimal influence. Methods Ten horses were ridden by five riders, summing to 14 trials. Each trial included straight walk unridden (on concrete), and walk on 10 m diameter circles (left and right on soft surface) first lunged (unridden) and then ridden with minimal rider influence. Inertial measurement units (100 Hz) were positioned on the withers, third sacral vertebra (S3) and laterally on metacarpal and metatarsal bones (using self-adhesive bandage). Selected data were split in steps (withers and S3 vertical translations) or strides (cannon protraction–retraction) at maximum hind limb protraction, and range of motion (ROM), minima and maxima, and their timing, were extracted. Data were analyzed using mixed models with inner/outer/straight nested within unridden/ridden as fixed effect, and controlling for stride duration. Differences between: inner vs outer steps/limbs; the same step/limb unridden vs ridden; and the same step/limb straight vs inner/outer unridden; were examined for statistical significance at p < 0.05. Results Inner limbs had smaller cannon ROM than outer limbs, for example, forelimbs when ridden (inner vs outer 62° vs 63°) and hind limbs when unridden (53° vs 56°). Forelimb cannon ROM was the largest for straight (65°). Hind limb ROM for straight walk (55°) was in-between inner (52–53°) and outer hind limbs (56–57°). Vertical ROM of S3 was larger during the inner (unridden/ridden 0.050/0.052 m) vs the outer step (unridden/ridden 0.049/0.051 m). Inner (0.050 m) and outer steps (0.049 m) unridden had smaller S3 ROM compared to straight steps (unridden, 0.054 m). Compared to when unridden, withers ROM was smaller when ridden: inner hind steps unridden/ridden 0.020 vs 0.015 m and outer hind steps 0.020 vs 0.013 m. When ridden, withers ROM was larger during the inner hind step vs the outer. Conclusion The outer hind limb had greater cannon pro-retraction ROM, compared to the inner limb. Larger croup ROM during the inner step appears to be coupled to increased retraction of the outer hind limb. Knowledge of magnitudes and timing of the horse’s movements on the circle in unridden and ridden walk may stimulate riders to educate eye and feel in analyzing the execution of circles, and stimulate further studies of the walk, for example, on interactions with rider influence, natural horse asymmetries, or lameness.

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“…The rider can influence stride frequency, but care must be taken not to induce a change in rhythm at the same time (Wolframm, Bosga & Meulenbroek, 2013). Horses usually walk symmetrically unless they are unloading a lame limb (Buchner et al, 1995) or show marked sidedness (Byström et al, 2018), although rider asymmetry, such as differences in rein tension, can also influence horse symmetry (Terada, Clayton & Kato, 2006;Kuhnke et al, 2010;Eisersiö et al, 2015).…”

Section: Walkmentioning

confidence: 99%

A scoping review of determinants of performance in dressage

Hobbs

George

Reed

et al. 2020

PeerJ

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As a first step in achieving an evidence-based classification system for the sport of Para Dressage, there is a clear need to define elite dressage performance. Previous studies have attempted to quantify performance with able-bodied riders using scientific methods; however, definitive measures have yet to be established for the horse and/or the rider. This may be, in part, due to the variety of movements and gaits that are found within a dressage test and also due to the complexity of the horse-rider partnership. The aim of this review is therefore to identify objective measurements of horse performance in dressage and the functional abilities of the rider that may influence them to achieve higher scores. Five databases (SportDiscuss, CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, VetMed) were systematically searched from 1980 to May 2018. Studies were included if they fulfilled the following criteria: (1) English language; (2) employ objective, quantitative outcome measures for describing equine and human performance in dressage; (3) describe objective measures of superior horse performance using between-subject comparisons and/or relating outcome measures to competitive scoring methods; (4) describe demands of dressage using objective physiological and/or biomechanical measures from human athletes and/or how these demands are translated into superior performance. In total, 773 articles were identified. Title and abstract screening resulted in 155 articles that met the eligibility criteria, 97 were excluded during the full screening of articles, leaving 58 included articles (14 horse, 44 rider) involving 311 equine and 584 able-bodied human participants. Mean ± sd (%) quality scores were 63.5 ± 15.3 and 72.7 ± 14.7 for the equine and human articles respectively. Significant objective measures of horse performance (n = 12 articles) were grouped into themes and separated by gait/movement. A range of temporal variables that indicated superior performance were found in all gaits/movements. For the rider, n = 5 articles reported variables that identified significant differences in skill level, which included the postural position and ROM of the rider’s pelvis, trunk, knee and head. The timing of rider pelvic and trunk motion in relation to the movement of the horse emerged as an important indicator of rider influence. As temporal variables in the horse are consistently linked to superior performance it could be surmised that better overall dressage performance requires minimal disruption from the rider whilst the horse maintains a specific gait/movement. Achieving the gait/movement in the first place depends upon the intrinsic characteristics of the horse, the level of training achieved and the ability of the rider to apply the correct aid. The information from this model will be used to develop an empirical study to test the relative strength of association between impairment and performance in able-bodied and Para Dressage riders.

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Biomechanical findings in horses showing asymmetrical vertical excursions of the withers at walk

Cited by 22 publications

References 26 publications

Adaptation strategies of horses with induced forelimb lameness walking on a treadmill

Adaptation strategies of horses with induced forelimb lameness walking on a treadmill

Kinematic effects of the circle with and without rider in walking horses

A scoping review of determinants of performance in dressage

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